Learning from a master

Actress Bridget Moynahan, who plays a CIA trainee in "The Recruit," recalls being initially unnerved by the actor who would play her instructor in the movie: the undeniably formidable Al Pacino.

"For me, it was always in that teacher-student situational relationship," she notes with some relief, "so I didn't have to get over any hurdles of being intimidated or shy, because it sort of went with what was the story line."

She was not just pleasantly surprised, but delighted by the behavior of the screen legend of the "Godfather" trilogy, "Serpico" and "The Insider," among many others.

"He was great. I got a front-row seat to just watch him perform and work things out," Moynahan says. "Al definitely took some risks and tried some things and messed up. And he was goofy, which you don't expect to see."

It's one of many tricks the veteran actor has learned to help stay fresh, engaged and the formidable screen presence he has been since 1972. But that requires a lot more than goofing around between takes. There is extensive craft that goes into every Pacino performance, whether it's one of non-stop bravura (such as "Scarface" or "Scent of a Woman," his 1992 Oscar winner) or subtle psychological shading (the "Godfather," "Donnie Brasco") or one of the myriad expert turns that register somewhere in between.

"I learned a lot, in a way, working with Al," says "Recruit" director Roger Donaldson. "He commits the script completely to memory, and then tries to forget it, I think. But he's really put a lot of work into getting that groundwork laid, so he can deliver those words convincingly."

"You try to bring in that extra thing that makes it plausible in movies," Pacino says. "An audience watching it doesn't even think about it, but they'll know if something really wouldn't have happened, and they'll retreat."